Dachau

I spent some time at ‘home’ in Germany while Eric and Samuel took the few nights orienteering in Vienna. It is strange to be alone but I am much enjoying it, the quietness is nice for a night. 

Today I journeyed part of the way with them to Munich Hauptbahnhof seeing them towards their train before travelling on to Dachau. Eric and Samuel had no interest or an aversion to going so I thought I’d go myself. I’m glad Samuel did not come, not because of the graphic images and stories, but because he would have found it boring and we would have had to move on before doing the displays justice. 

I found it hard, depressing and somewhat more sanitary than I’d expected. The area is clean and neat. Only two barracks of some thirty odd, have been reconstructed and the area is large and appears to be spacious. And yet it is obvious it would have been a very crowded, dank place all those years ago.

I took an audio tour and learned much. I had not realised the ‘laws’ which were passed which allowed the indiscriminate housing of ‘criminals’ in concentration camps. I had no idea of the practice of detaining people who may be a ‘danger’ to society (read political dissenters) without trial nor the range of prisoners, nor the role of Dachau in spreading the model for concentration camps. 

I found the stories harsh in the depiction of torture, the political background provided and the focus on the role of the SS soldiers. The focus on the extremely poor, crowded, humiliating, torturous circumstances in which these people were held. The chaos, the randomness of the division of required duties and the brutal treatment of the people. But only one mention of human spirit of the prisoners who could still show kindness to one another. All other stories of concentration camps I have read focussed on the latter.

I learned of the range of prisoners, I had no idea of the pastors and priests, no idea of the immigrants, polish people, Soviet and other prisoners of war, homosexuals, political dissenters, rounding up of those from occupied countries or even those who just protested. I had no idea that the concentration camps were used as a tool to stop dissent. Of course I should have known..... what a tool.

I’m left with the feeling from the eyewitness accounts of the American and British liberating soldiers of ‘how could this happen, how could the people living near not know?’..... and yet I suspect they did not. Not till after. I now understand the point of the memorial: to ensure that something like this never happens again.... Since this is the feeling I am left with, the memorial at Dachau is a success.